I just moved to Virginia Beach, and there are a lot of cyclists here. Most of them I have absolutely no problem with (in fact, I'm one of them):

- Road bikers riding the streets, they seem to all be highly visible and follow the road rules. Cool- Hipsters cruising the beach boardwalk with their ridiculously high "ape-hanger" style handlebars. Cool- Families riding the various bike paths and rail trails. Cool.- MTB guys riding trails in the park. Cool.

The ones who drive me nuts are the >= middle aged guys who look like one or two steps above derelict, but a couple steps below the type of person who makes regular employment a goal. They ride around all day long, but don't seem to be going anywhere. Usually with a plastic shopping bag hanging off the handlebars, and occasionally drunk. They cut through anywhere, go down the road the wrong way, cross the street anyplace, weave through traffic, block sidewalks, and ride through crowded sidewalks.

I commute by bike every day along a very busy bike route in Seattle downtown. 99% of bike riders are very careful and considerate. If im stopped at a light with 6-7 other riders and one asshole on a fixie decides he doesnt need to stop with the rest of us, you better damn well expect me to chew you out. Your shiatty behavior makes the rest of us look bad and the last thing I need is another angry guy in a car chasing me down the road honking his horn and flipping me off because someone else cut him off on a bike.

gopher321:don't cycle myself, but I'm pretty sure there are far more asshole/idiot drivers out there than cyclists.

By volume? No.

Per Capita? No.

In your specific region? Possibly.

I assure for every 100 people on bicycles, many more of them are insane or assholes than people in cars. And I also assure you that for every asshole you have drivin' around, Asia has 100 or more cyclists somehow smoking a cigarette AND texting.

DrySocket:I commute by bike every day along a very busy bike route in Seattle downtown. 99% of bike riders are very careful and considerate. If im stopped at a light with 6-7 other riders and one asshole on a fixie decides he doesnt need to stop with the rest of us, you better damn well expect me to chew you out

WTF? Why would you chew me out because some guy on a fixie pissed you off? It's not like I'm some douchbag bike commuter.

/Ford F-250//Respects bike lanes and bikers on un-bike-laned roads///Stay to your side, or get smacked with a side mirror, assholes

doglover:gopher321: don't cycle myself, but I'm pretty sure there are far more asshole/idiot drivers out there than cyclists.

By volume? No.

Per Capita? No.

In your specific region? Possibly.

I assure for every 100 people on bicycles, many more of them are insane or assholes than people in cars. And I also assure you that for every asshole you have drivin' around, Asia has 100 or more cyclists somehow smoking a cigarette AND texting.

Besides which, it's not a competition to claim which mode of transport has the worst people. Just agree that 100% of these particular people are dangerous irresponsible assholes and leave it at that.

And I'd argue that most people text and drive don't think they're being a danger. That's farking stupid of course but these people are intentionally going out of their way to be disruptive and dangerous.

downstairs:Assholes like this give courteous bikers like me a bad name.

I don't care if you're a good driver, bad driver, or whatever... you have a 4,000 lb weapon. I'm going to avoid you at all costs.

Exactly, I fail to understand the mindset of biking everywhere. Yes I have the right to ride my bike on surface roads, but a number of the roads clearly weren't designed with my safety in mind. So I find alternate routes around them. A couple extra miles winding through suburban side streets is more fun than playing chicken on the four lane, no shoulder, main road.

If you're a biker and you feel like you got farked in terms of road design, talk to the DOT, playing chicken with the F250s isn't worth it.

Lernaeus:I hate them because they get together in huge groups and clog up the two-lane can't-see-far-enough-ahead-to-pass winding roads I drive to get home every day.

I give them a few seconds then lay on the horn.

Fark bicyclists. You don't belong on the road and I shouldn't have to share shiat just because you have a crappy hobby or too many DUIs.

/ also, fark motorcyclists, no I will not spend extra time peering out every possible angle of every window because you choose to ride something that has no business being on a highway in my blind spot// YOU choose to ride something that is increasing YOUR odds of being killed, YOU pay extra farking attention

Because getting together en masse, clogging a major roadway, and going as farkING SLOW AS POSSIBLE is how to get people to sympathize with the plight of the poor, misunderstood bicyclist.

It's wrong to run over cyclists in general. However I understand completely how it would happen. Heck, one the videos on youtube, I would vote to pardon the guy because the cyclists were attacking his car and not letting him pass, so he nudged out, one went down, and he just drove off. No one was seriously hurt and the dude who went down should have gotten a beating from his friends for being such a dickhole and antagonizing the driver so much. That's what would happen in a civilized group.

Instead they all clustered around Mr. Ureathra and were simply pathetic. . . sorry, I mean sympathetic. But yeah, there's millions of innocent people on bikes who deserve a chance at safe transit, then there's Critical Mass and these people in the video.

Benevolent Misanthrope:DrySocket: I commute by bike every day along a very busy bike route in Seattle downtown. 99% of bike riders are very careful and considerate. If im stopped at a light with 6-7 other riders and one asshole on a fixie decides he doesnt need to stop with the rest of us, you better damn well expect me to chew you out

WTF? Why would you chew me out because some guy on a fixie pissed you off? It's not like I'm some douchbag bike commuter.

/Ford F-250//Respects bike lanes and bikers on un-bike-laned roads///Stay to your side, or get smacked with a side mirror, assholes

What's with the violent threats? You are aware that bicycles are legally road vehicles and have a legal right to be there, don't you? And even if they didn't, or you didn't know, you're surely aware that hitting people is a serious offence, aren't you? As in, cuffed, stuffed, prosecuted, sentenced, and criminal record offence. You did know that, right? Even threatening can be actionable. You can even go to jail for threatening under some circumstances.

Drivers need to chill the fark out. Everyone needs to chill the fark out. Road irritations are a problem of privileged people. If it's really that big a deal for you, then you've got a very narrow perspective.

Sylvia_Bandersnatch:Drivers need to chill the fark out. Everyone needs to chill the fark out. Road irritations are a problem of privileged people. If it's really that big a deal for you, then you've got a very narrow perspective.

I'm not condoning violence but you don't see anything in that video that should piss off any driver watching it? Or sane biker for that matter.

Adolf Oliver Nipples:mr smart the great: i was hoping some one would open their door on the asshole that broke the mirror

He didn't break the mirror. It was on a pivot and when he hit it the mirror sprung forward. All the guy had to do was reach out and pull it back.

Modern vehicles, how do they work?

Oh no no, haven't you been following the thread? If a cyclist annoys you, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CAUSE THEM GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM.

See, how it works is, people with larger vehicles have superior legal rights to people will smaller vehicles. If your vehicle is physically capable of overpowering someone else's, then you have the legal right to do so, in whatever manner suits you.* If they get in the way of your dickmobile. (Or offend you in some other way, such as being in a position where you are able to view their posteriors and you are both male.) All of this has been clarified many times in many threads like this. Where have you been?

* In some cases, you may instead have the offending party shot, or shoot them yourself.

I regularly commute by bike and I hope each and every one of those assholes is smeared by a vehicle big and tough enough to do it without suffering any undue damage. Something like a dump truck or front end loader.

Sylvia_Bandersnatch:Benevolent Misanthrope: DrySocket: I commute by bike every day along a very busy bike route in Seattle downtown. 99% of bike riders are very careful and considerate. If im stopped at a light with 6-7 other riders and one asshole on a fixie decides he doesnt need to stop with the rest of us, you better damn well expect me to chew you out

WTF? Why would you chew me out because some guy on a fixie pissed you off? It's not like I'm some douchbag bike commuter.

/Ford F-250//Respects bike lanes and bikers on un-bike-laned roads///Stay to your side, or get smacked with a side mirror, assholes

What's with the violent threats? You are aware that bicycles are legally road vehicles and have a legal right to be there, don't you? And even if they didn't, or you didn't know, you're surely aware that hitting people is a serious offence, aren't you? As in, cuffed, stuffed, prosecuted, sentenced, and criminal record offence. You did know that, right? Even threatening can be actionable. You can even go to jail for threatening under some circumstances.

Drivers need to chill the fark out. Everyone needs to chill the fark out. Road irritations are a problem of privileged people. If it's really that big a deal for you, then you've got a very narrow perspective.

What's with the outrage? You are aware that bicycles are also required to follow the rules of the road, aren't you? And even if they weren't, or you weren't aware, you're surely aware that it's impossible for a truck that large to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid one's mirror hitting a bicyclist who just swerved out into one's lane, aren't you?

You need to follow your own advice and chill the fark out. Outrage over benign Internet comments are a problem of overly privileged snowflake-type people. If it's really that big a deal for you, then you've got bigger problems.

Sylvia_Bandersnatch:Oh no no, haven't you been following the thread? If a cyclist annoys you, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CAUSE THEM GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM.

See, how it works is, people with larger vehicles have superior legal rights to people will smaller vehicles. If your vehicle is physically capable of overpowering someone else's, then you have the legal right to do so, in whatever manner suits you.* If they get in the way of your dickmobile. (Or offend you in some other way, such as being in a position where you are able to view their posteriors and you are both male.) All of this has been clarified many times in many threads like this. Where have you been?

* In some cases, you may instead have the offending party shot, or shoot them yourself.

You don't have to get all defensive to the point of making shiat up. Most posts were about these people in the video so relax.

Splinshints:Lernaeus: I hate them because they get together in huge groups and clog up the two-lane can't-see-far-enough-ahead-to-pass winding roads I drive to get home every day.

I give them a few seconds then lay on the horn.

Fark bicyclists. You don't belong on the road and I shouldn't have to share shiat just because you have a crappy hobby or too many DUIs.

/ also, fark motorcyclists, no I will not spend extra time peering out every possible angle of every window because you choose to ride something that has no business being on a highway in my blind spot// YOU choose to ride something that is increasing YOUR odds of being killed, YOU pay extra farking attention

Dude, you're not making yourself look good.

Bikes do have a legal right to the road. Read the law: they're road vehicles. There are rules of accommodation, which vary from place to place, but bikes are allowed on most roads. In fact, it's often expressly illegal for them to ride anywhere else. Motorists need to chill out and get over the notion that they own the road. You don't. The road is a shared public resource, and everyone has some right to it. So get over that. Moreover, motoring is a privilege, not a right, that's revokable. You do not have a right to drive. Nor do you have a right to wholly unimpeded travel, or travel at whatever speed you desire.

Are Critical Mass riders breaking the law? Yes, they are. Is that worth getting up a head of steam over? No, it's not. Let it go and move on with your life. If you threaten anyone with a car, it's actionable. If you actually contact anyone with your car, it's very definitely actionable, and will almost certainly be actioned. And I promise you, a court of law will not be impressed with your whiny little rant.

Life is for living. Live it, and stop getting your dick in a twist over First World problems.